Love me some brown!

Time for something new, don’t you think? As I was pondering the next project, I realized that in nearly all of the bags I’ve created thus far, I’ve used some version of black or gray as the lining. But, when I look through the fabric websites, I really want to buy brown material! I love brown! (Ironically enough, if you ever get a chance to meet my mother, she’d rather pull out her fingernails, than wear brown! Thankfully, she loves me in spite of my affinity for earthy colors!)

So, I decided I would design fabric specifically around the color brown as a reason to buy this gorgeous milk chocolate patterned material! It just makes me happy!

Yum!

First up, picking out the yarn! I’m a big fan of starting with one color and then placing related colors next to it until the series seems to blend seamlessly. For example, I started with a light, neutral beige and chose a variety of sister colors that bring me to a dark brown. When it’s done well, the colors really roll into each other! So basically, I pulled out nearly every brown and neutral I have, and then fit them together like a puzzle, with similar shades and tints next to each other.

When picking out yarn, you must have tea!

Plus, I threw in a little something extra in this project! In the last project, I made an error in my threading and I had 2 yarns too close together. And while that may have bothered the former me, I have been working hard to overcome my perfectionist tendencies and let it go! Turns out, I love the effect! So, for this time around, I’m doing it intentionally! It will be tricky to see in the set up, but I’ll be sure to point it out once I’m weaving! Should be very cool!

So, to the warping board I go! All the yarns go onto the board in the order that they will go into the loom. I broke it up into 2 halves, since the yarn starts to fall off the pegs if you put too much on. And let me tell you, that is a heartache I wouldn’t wish on anyone! Especially at the beginning of the project!

The Glorious Warping Board!

The 1st Half

The Starting Peg

When winding on a project like this, half the battle is just managing which yarn goes where! So, while there is probably a more efficient way to do it, I simply chop off the yarn every time I change colors. Thus, you can see in the picture above all my little knots. But, these won’t matter in the end. So, I figure whatever method will keep me saner is the way to go!

The 2nd Half

The Cross

When using the warping board, the point is to wind all yarns to the same length and in the proper order. So, the easiest way to do that is with a cross! When I start at the top of the board, I go over the peg on the left and under the peg on the right. And when I come back up, I do just the opposite. That’s the secret for keeping everyone in line! Many cheers for the cross!

And finally, once all the yarn has been rationed out, I do a little twist to take it off the warping board and get the reed ready! Next up, I’ll be sleying! You know it’s my favorite! Talk to you soon…

Twisting the yarn off the warping board